Football Places 15 on All-NJAC Team; Capozzoli Named Special Teams Player of the Year, Giancola Coach of the Year

Montclair, NJ (11/20/09) —Senior placekicker Marco Capozzoli (Bloomfield, NJ / St. Joseph's (Montvale)) was chosen as the Special Teams Player of the Year while long-time mentor Rick Giancola was selected Coach of the Year as the New Jersey Athletic Conference announced its 2009 All-Conference Team on Friday.

Montclair
State, the NJAC champion, had 15 players selected, including six on the
First Team. The 15 players were the most chosen among the 10 conference
schools.

A
two-time NJAC all-conference selection, Capozzoli currently leads the
conference in PAT percentage (.966), while ranking third in kick
scoring per game (5.5 points). On the 2009 season, he has connected on
9-of-14 field goal attempts, and a league-best 28-of-29 PATs. Included
in his nine field goals was a three-field goal performance in MSU's
16-13 win over The College of New Jersey on October 24. In that game
Capozzoli - one of only three kickers in Montclair history to make 30
career field goals - became the first MSU placekicker to connect on
three 40-yard attempts in a game as he hit from 42, 44 and career-best
47 yards in the rain.

McLean earned his
second straight First-Team selection as he collected 56 tackles (fourth
on the team) along with three sacks, six breakups and interception,
forced fumble and blocked kick. Merkle too collected his second
All-Conference accolade but moved up to the First Team this year. The
senior leads the Red Hawks with seven sacks in addition to 67 total
tackles. Merkle, an NJAC Defensive Player of the Week selection, also
accumulated 17.5 tackles for loss (of 80 yards) and two forced fumbles.

Tweer, Dixon and Kubrak each earned their
first honor. Tweer leads the team and ranks 10th in the league in
tackles with 76. He also recorded 14.5 tackles for loss (of 68 yards)
and four sacks. Tweer, who also earned NJAC Defensive Player of the
Week honors, added three interceptions and four sacks. Dixon leads the
NJAC in passes defended with 22 and also has four interceptions and 28
tackles. Kubrak is second in the league in punt returns at 9.1 per
runback and a touchdown. His 17-yard run back against Kean last week
helped set up the first of MSU's two touchdowns in the game the
clinched the conference title.

Bliss
was named to the Second Team for the second straight season. The sixth
all-time leading rusher in MSU history, Bliss has run for 563 yards
this season and seven touchdowns. Letizia too was chosen Second Team
for the second time in his career. Returning from injury that caused
him to miss all of 2008, Letizia is second on the team with 32
receptions and leads MSU with 534 yards. He has also posted two
touchdown receptions. Goldman and Sperduti are honored for the first
time as is Shenker, who had 46 tackles, an interception and four passes
defended this year. Knoepel's selection gave the Red Hawks all four
members of its defensive back field on the All-NJAC Team. Knoeppel
leads the NJAC in interceptions with five and he also had 50 tackles.

Litz
served as the blocking fullback for the MSU running game but was also
versatile as he caught 16 passes out of the backfield for 95 yards and
a touchdown. Gelpi earned Honorable Mention for the second straight
year. Brenner was named for the first time after appearing in all 10
contests recording 24 tackles, a forced fumble and two pass breakups.

Giancola
was selected as the NJAC Coach of the Year by his peers. Picked to
finish third in the NJAC preseason coaches poll, Giancola led the Red
Hawks to nine consecutive league victories for the 2009 NJAC
Championship, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. It was the ninth NJAC
title for Giancola and the 18th overall for Montclair since the league
established the sport in 1969. In 27 seasons at the helm of the MSU
program, Giancola has guided the Red Hawks to an overall record of
190-86-2.